ive always wondered why they put the knee pads on wetsuits, ive never found any use (that ive realized) of them.. does anyone know the answer to this dumb question.
they're helpful for me because when I paddle, i tend to move my legs a lot. if those pads weren't there, i would get a bad rash/scab on my knees/lower thighs because i sway my legs and they rub against the board when i paddle.
i wish my knee pads were thicker. i tend to drag my back knee alot and it tends to wear out, ive gotten rips before. Think about it, if ur tucking into a tube sometimes ur on one knee, if it were just neoprene the suit would wear out quickly rubing against ur board
every wetsuit i have ever owned wore out at the knees leading to premature death of wetsuit...got an xcel infiniti...no more problems
Also protects the suit from the sand, like while you're waxing the board or the occasional brush against the bottom.
If you surf everyday in a wetsuit ni surf that is a decent to large size, you will blow your knees out of your wetsuit. Every wetsuit I have EVER owned for a whole season, the left knee is the first thing to do. It has to do with duck diving larger waves... I never notice that I do it, but I guess i use my left knee to push the back of the board down more when I try and go deep. Or I start with pushing with the left knee, then do a full on push with a leg on the tail of the board.... So, for me, those things work pretty well because they prevent me from blasting a whole in the knee for at least 9 months or so... If you are only surfing a fwe times a month or somthing, you wont have a problem, but the material over the knees is streched and pressured more than most places on a suit... Thats my take, cause I blow out MAD knees, and I dont use a knee for anything other than really deep duck dives.... I have sent back 3 Quicksilver 4 mil suits over this issue and they sent me a brand new one for free every time... The other part of the wetsuit that I detroy on EVERY MAKE, every model wetsuit is the back shoulder paneling... The rubber around the zipper area always begins to split...
